Chicago, IL

February 2011

Chad Ellegood grew up in Illinois and first discovered his love of wine while working at Printers Row. He continued educating himself as captain at the four-star Spiaggia with Henry Bishop. Bishop is lauded as one of the best sommeliers in the business, with an especially strong knowledge of eclectic Italian wines as well as obscure American wines. Under Bishop, Ellegood started to love teaching his guests about lesser-known wines and wine regions, and continued to learn as much as he could over the next year.

In 2005, Ellegood left Spiaggia to work with Scott Tyree at Tru, and just 10 months later, was named assistant sommelier, overseeing the 17,000 bottle list. Under Tyree, Ellegood learned how to construct and maintain an award-winning wine list and honed his knowledge of Burgundies, which are a focus on the wine list at Tru. In 2007, Ellegood passed the Advanced Sommelier exam given by the Court of Master Sommeliers and looks forward to the next and final exam for the Master Sommelier.